Tuesday, December 14, 2010

If you've been reading this blog for very long, you know that I'm a huge fan of giving books, especially cookbooks, as gifts. They're fun, informative, inexpensive, and—slow, spine-breaking death by loving overuse aside—will last nearly forever.

So what's the only gift better than that? One that lasts a very short time because it's edible.

One of my favorite food books of the year is the beautiful, full color Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers ($23.10) by Sur La Table and Janet Fletcher. Anybody who has a CSA subscription or shops at the farmers' market will probably love it. The farmer profiles are so inspiring—just keep a tissue handy. I think I've ended up in happy tears over every single one.

What makes Gifts Cooks Love especially nice is that it offers more than just mouthwatering, year round gifts for cooks of every level. The gorgeous photos are full of crafty packaging and presentation ideas, and each recipe includes suggestions for gift-giving tips, as well as what to include on the gift card. For example, the Apricot-Bourbon Mustard gift card could say:

This Apricot-Bourbon Mustard was made on [give date] and can be enjoyed for up to 3 months, kept in the refrigerator. It makes a delightful sandwich spread and a great dip for hard or soft-baked pretzels, or use it as a condiment for cured meats and smoked or grilled sausages.

And the gift tips are: Tie each jar of mustard with raffia or ribbon and attach a gift card. To turn this into a gift basket, consider including a bag of twisted hard pretzels, or smoked sausages, cured meats, crackers, and a jar of cornichons.

The gift card for the Backyard BBQ Rub (from the No Cook Gifts chapter) even offers a recipe for grilled pork tenderloin. The last chapter of the book is called Make-a Gift Kits and is full of more clever ideas.

So far I've made the Rustic Rosemary-Parmesan Crackers and the Cinnamon Coated Graham Crackers (which you can turn into a S'Mores Kit). Although they didn't exactly come out picture perfect on the first try, they tasted great—and I didn't really want to share anyway. Next time I'm going to run the cracker dough through my pasta machine to make things easier.

Other recipes I have marked include Meyer Lemon Curd, Smoky Tomato Ketchup, Limoncello from the Drink Gifts chapter (who knew it was so easy to make?), Home Churned Lemon Herb Butter, Mini Apricot and Crystallized Ginger Banana Quick Breads, Eight Hour Butter Braised Onions (made in a slow cooker), and the Seven-Month Vanilla Extract, Bollywood Coconut Curry Popcorn Seasoning, and Moroccan Spice Blend from the No Cook Gifts chapter. There are even instructions for curing and smoking your own bacon and making salmon gravlax.

Sound good? Thanks to the publisher, I'm giving away two copies of Gifts Cooks Love: Recipes for Giving to Farmgirl Fare readers—and they can be shipped anywhere! To enter, simply leave a comment in this post, along with your e-mail address, telling us something about a homemade edible gift—your favorite one to make, the best one you've ever received, the weirdest one you've been given—anything. If you've written about a homemade edible gift on your own blog, you're welcome to include a link in your comment, and if you'd like to share a recipe with us, please do so!

**You must include your e-mail address in your comment in order to win.** (Or let me know if it's listed on your Blogger profile.) It won't be used for anything except to contact you if you're a winner. To avoid robot spammers (or whatever they are), you can leave it like this: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com. You can enter through next Monday, December 20th, and then I'll pick two random winners. One entry per person please. I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours actually appears. I can't wait to read your comments!

We received a jar of brownie mix from my brother-in-law's girlfriend many years ago, and agreed they were the best brownies we had ever tasted. Unfortunately they broke up (on bad terms) before we got the recipe. We teased him for a long time, asking if he would contact her just to get that recipe. He never did. :(

My favorite edible... A friend used to give me homemade toffee every Christmas, the squares perfectly shaped and packaged in an adorable little box. It was better than any store-bought candy.givemeanoscar at live dot com

My favorite gift to give... truffles of the chocolate variety. This year I am packaging up some of them with home brewed beer, wine, and mead, as well as some home canned peaches/jam. I definitely believe in edible gifts!

Food is all my family ever gets from me--mostly jams and jellies, but my brother and my dad have been known to fight over pickled jalapenos. Weirdos. And my mom has an unnatural love for pickled beets. And my sister LOVES my pears.

I love to give homemade fudge - with or without nuts. The packaging is important. I cut heavy mat board 3" wide and 36" long lining up the fudge pieces along the board. The whole thing gets wrapped in clear cellophane with the ends tied in pretty ribbon. My friends talk about their yummy "yard of fudge" they got for the holidays.mhargrave46 at gmail dot com

I received my Mom's homemade Christmas cake filled with dried fruits and nuts and soaked in brandy when I was overseas in France at school. It was the best gift ever for a homesick student.I still remember that now 45 years down the road. I love to give a stack of chocolate chip and orange cookies to friends. Nobody suspects the orange and their eyes light up when they taste the secret ingredient. Thanks for sharing your recipes and your life on the farm. Your recipes always turn out the best. None have failed me yet. By the way the lemon bread is a gift that I keep on giving all year. Best always, Sandra sapayette at bell dot net

Jam is always a favorite to give... I have also given homemade mead, plum mead, and chocolate truffles. This year I am thinking of making some maple chocolate from scratch, if I can resist eating it all myself :)

One year I made homemade chocolate eggnog ... OMG, soooooooo good it was hard to give away!!! I like making gifts for friends and family because it means I took the time to consider what they like .... plus anyone can buy gift, right??

giving food as a gift is a wonderful idea, its the first option I consider when I have to choose a gift for someone. I would love to win a copy of this book so that my gifts gain some variety, currently I make small bottles of chilly and raisin pickles to give to people.Wonderful to know you'll ship anywhere, because its the first time I qualify! Happy Holidaysmaya dot matthew at gmail dot com

In high school, I didn't know what to give a new boyfriend for Christmas, so I found a HUGE cookie tin and packed it completely full of homemade cookies. I remember there were snickerdoodles, which were misshapen from spreading strangely, and gingersnaps, and I don't remember what else. I think the poor kid was completely overwhelmed -- I have no idea what he did with all those cookies, and he never mentioned it again!

The best cook's gift I ever received was Sweet Hot Mustard from my Sister In Law. I enjoy making and giving through the Holidays Peanut Butter Popcorn, Spiced Peanuts, Chinese Fried Walnuts and Peanut Butter Fudge. I would love to own "Gifts Cooks Love" for more ideas on gifting. Thank you for the opportunity.

I have given cookies in tins as gifts. Recently, I have had a neighbor give me a few jars of jelly that she made. Every morning, my children talk about how it was our neighbor that made it and not store bought. They think that she is super nice to share with us because the jelly is so yummy.

We package up some "cracker toffee" - actually club crackers doused in boiling butter and brown sugar with a touch of vanilla, baked, then melted chocolate spread over the top, then cooled. Someone called it Candy Crack - it is so addicting and yummy and easy to package in cellophane. I am getting a bread machine tomorrow and hope to make some whole wheat raisin loaves - no time to make homemade as a single full-time mom working full time from home and homeschooling! LOVE cookbooks - great giveaway! janschop @ aol dot com

I received a cookie in a jar from the neighbor girls. They were 5 and 8 at the time. Their mom wasn't a cook and left something out of the jar. They were the worst cookies ever! The girls were so proud of what they made I didn't have the heart to tell their mom.Rbndbld@yahoo.com

I've personally made hot chocolate mix in holiday decorated jars to give as gifts along with a holiday mug. My favorite to receive is a plate of cookies from my friend Glenda--she bakes the best cookies and such a variety! Kinds I would never attempt.linda dash mcguire AT att dot net

My favorite edible gift is Meyer lemons and tangerines from our out of this world trees in our former home of Southern California. We've moved to New England and I miss those babies so much. When my Dad was in hospital two winters ago, we brought him bags of our tangerines, he had given us the tree, and he adored those treats. Thanks for the memory Susan! Oh, I'm carylanneb AT gmail DOT com

Please enter me in your drawing. The favorite edible gift that I have received would probably have to be the strawberry preserves I got when I graduated high school.... they came with a strawberry muffin recipe. Mm, mm.

I make two Christmas gifts most years: cranberry-chocolate cookies, and truffles. But we've started homebrewing this year and I'm hoping soon we'll be giving beer and mead as well! orders.bills AT gmail DOT com

In 2008 I put together a gift basket for my parents filled with homemade goods: Vanilla, Apple Butter, Smoky Almonds, Salsa... For a picture of the whole basket you can go to my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfcreeker/3154065406/

I loved giving that gift and plan to do more of that in the future. Because I got married this summer I didn't have enough time to garden and preserve. Maybe next year!

Who knew that the Bourbon-Infused Honey I tried one year would become mandatory for gift-giving each December!! I love recipes that are intended for sharing with others, they always taste better as a gift!

During the holidays, I give my Sundried Tomato Cheese Roll (http://opulentcottage.typepad.com/opulentcottage/2008/12/sundried-tomato-heaven.html) and it gets rave reviews every time! Last year I was lucky enough to find some adorable Bordallo Christmas tree plates to wrap the cheese rolls in, and it was one of the prettiest gifts I have ever given!

For Thanksgiving this year I made a Chocolate Cake with Raspberry filling and Chocolate Ganache and then topped it off with whole raspberries. It not only looked gorgeous it tasted fantastic. I just hope I can recreate it for Christmas and my brothers birthday. jeanmark at verizon dot net

Kinda boring, but my favorite thing to make is cookies. I used to make a ton of cookies as holiday gifts. Then, I had a kid.

The best thing I ever got? My brother in law makes homemade sauerkraut. Weird, I know, but they would freeze it and ship it to me. It would be defrosted by the time it made it cross country, but it's only cabbage, right?

This year I will not receive my favorite gift. My friend, Meli, passed away in September from cancer. She was only 51 and one of the best friends in my life journey. Last year she helped me clean out my garage when we lost our house and had to move. Garage...think of it! How many friends would help you clean out your garage and then go to the dump laughing all the way. She and her daughter Zoe used to make cookies together and then pass them out to neighbors and friends. I will miss her cookies, but I miss most her smiling face and our reading the same books together. She would have liked this book! She was such a giving person!Now I feel sad and better at the same time. Have a perfect Christmas!! Lee Bowers kwilternc@nc.rr.com

My favorite Christmas edible to give is candy. My grandmother and I used to make tins of homemade candy for the family every year--homemade fondants dipped in chocolate. Nowadays, I've moved more towards cookies than candies, but I still make a batch of "moth balls" (vanilla fondant rolled in sugar, with a hazelnut inside) when Christmas comes around. They were the only candies we'd make just for us. :)

Just found your blog looking for kohlrabi recipes. I bought it for the first time in decades, although I remember eating it as a child growing up in Austria. Thank you; it'll be stewed kohlrai at Hillesum Farm tonight.

Love you blog. I'm much older and, I think, much less successful at having made the transition from big city apartment dweller to farmer. But I wouldn't miss the adventure for the world, especially life with the animals.

I'm at www.hillesum.org, and have just revived my blog at http://www.hillesum.blogspot.com/. I'll be following your journey, and wish you all the best.

My favorite edible to give is my no sugar added tart apple butter or my extra thin ginger crisps. One year a coworker of my husband gave us homemade carmels and chocolate covered toffee. I got the recipes and every year hope to make them as my husband got about 2 pieces.

This book sounds great! I'm always looking for things like this, and most of my efforts in the past have been pretty lame. I recall a particularly awful bean soup mix, that I never had the courage to give out, and ended up having to eat it all in our family... It was dreadful! Thanks for reminding me that there are cool things to make and give out there!

As I type this, I am making up batches and batches of your biscotti recipe I discovered a few years back - no lie! It is always such a hit because it's not super sweet and goes great with either milk or coffee. And for my friends that like super sweet - I just dip them in chocolate, coconut, whatever I have on hand. I have also given rosemary infused olive oil, homemade vanilla extract and birdseed ornaments. nishaco@hotmail.com

I make a lot of things. For family and close friends I've made pasta sauce and soon the pasta to go with it. For friends they are getting either caramels or marshmallows and a jar of jam I've made also. The book sounds sooo good!

The worst gift mix that I made was hot chocolate. I added the mini marshmallows and broken star mints to the top of the jar. For some reason the mints or the mix zapped every bit of moisture out of the marshmallows and they were mini rocks. hale724 at msn.com

I always get requests every Christmas to make my pumpkin bread and gingerbread cookies. I throw in a different item in my baked goods gift giving because I get so tempted looking at all the recipes out there in magazines and online.annettegeisel at charter dot net

Every year I do boxes of cookies for friends, relatives, and the kids teachers. I'm up to over 30 boxes now and should probably get baking in order to get it done in time. Everyone loves cookies but why not branch out a bit with some ideas from this yummy sounding book?

i made oodles and oodles of fruit jams over the summer and have been saving them up to give as gifts - stawberry, blackberry, peach, hot pepper, blueberry, triple berry, peach-raspberry and probably others i have forgotten. i'm also canning my bbq sauce and reed sauce for gifts too.

The best food gift I have ever given was a peanut butter chocolate pie I made for my boyfriend's birthday. Him and I had just started dating so I was super apprehensive. All I wanted to do was impress him! Needless to say the pie was a hit, and he requests it now for every occasion! I love make him happy through my baking and cooking, and this cookbook would be such a hit in my kitchen!

I made a spice rub that I jar up in old mason jars that I collect throughout the year. I add some cute fabric and a little raffia tie and give them as presents. People really seem to love them! Thanks for the chance at winning this wonderful book!

My best gift memories are from my grandpa, a big polish man who smoked a sweet smelling pipe. Every year for Christmas he would get each child and their family a HUGE bag of pistachios (50 lb bag). From Christmas until about halfway through January here would be two bowls out on the counter-one with nuts and the other with the shells. I still cant see a bag of pistachios in the store without swearing to smell a faint pipe around.My favorite thing to take when I go somewhere for a holiday meal is the Joy of Cooking's Ham & Cheese Quiche. Sounds simple, but I use Asiago & about a 1/4C of Cabot's Chipotle cheese and I never bring home leftovers.Strangest gift: every year since I was 6 my Aunt would give me a cross stitch kit that makes an ornament that has a Santa Clause or snowflake. Every Christmas morning I start it with the honest intentions to finish it and send it back, and every year I loose them in the wrapping and craziness that Christmas brings! Even if I do not win, can you do a post on making Lemonccello. I am engaged to marry an Italian next summer and would love to surprise him with some!

I grew up in Minnesota but had lived in Texas for several years and finally had a big vegetable garden. I didn't realized how few squash plants it takes to feed an entire county. I was fortunate to run across a recipe for a squash relish that used zucchini and yellow squash, along with green and red peppers and onions. I probably put up 150 pints of relish before I resorted to putting half the squash in the compost pile (something in me refuses to let me pull up a plant). I also had a bountiful crop of okra and cayenne peppers so, of course, I pickled the okra. When Christmas rolled around, I baked my standard cookie gifts but added jars of relish and okra. The looks on the faces of family in Minnesota were priceless when they opened their gifts, since okra is not big up north. I actually had someone ask if they were actually supposed to eat it. However, they did ask for more th next year!

Consumable gifts are the best! In previous years I've made soap (with lye, the old fashioned way). Last year I also made almond nut brittle, and it turned out great! This year we plan to make biscotti. info@barbarajcarter.com

This year, I'm going to be surprising my coworkers with individual bags of Reindeer Poop cookies. I found the recipe on another blog (http://odd-dotty.typepad.com/odd_dotty_dollymaker/2010/11/reindeer-poop.html). They are amazing!

Love homemade food gifts: they're the best! I've given spicy pickled carrots and chocolate-dipped candied ginger. Those have been the biggest hits so far! This book looks amazing! Thanks for the chance to win it. sherrischott@gmail.com

We got a batch of cookies as a wedding gift, along with a cook book. The funny thing is that that particular recipe wasn't in the cookbook! If I need to give a quick gift, I usually jump to a ginger spiced cookie recipe. Nobody seems to make them so they are always a big hit. Adding 1/3 cup finely chopped candied ginger makes the cookies flavour pop!

Farmgirl - I can't believe you haven't been to a Sur la Table when you have been through St. Louis. The shop at Plaza Frontenac is one of my favorite cookware shops.

The best food gift I ever got was my from my in-laws, which was a tin of the family favorite bourbon balls, which my sister-in-law has since perfected and for a short time had on the dessert menu at a four star restaurant in New York. They are certainly a treat!!!lpcourtney at att dot net

The best gift I received was spicy balsamic mustard made by a co-worker of the friend who gave it to me. I'd be willing to buy it anytime. Special gifts we give, besides cookies and tea cakes, are 3-D star cookies (by my engineer S.O.) and Indian-spiced Glazed Nuts - slightly sweet, slightly spice and with a kick of cayenne.

I have two favorites to give away now. I HATE making fudge but LEMON fudge (with white chocolate!) is SO worth it.....if I can stop eating it long enough to get it wrapped up and out of the house! And, decades ago now, I found a recipe for Caramel Kix...on the box...that is as easy as recipes go...and there's no popping of corn required! Great grab food for gatherings, too!

The best gift I ever received was an entire blueberry cheesecake from my dear, dear uncle. I was just a teenager at the time, and didn't know that my time with him would end soon after. I'll never forget that gift! And my family makes delicious chocolate toffee that we've been giving for years to many happy stomachs! monicabrannon AT gmail DOT com

I only started doing this last year, but I went to a truffle-making class with a friend, and homemade truffles are not that hard to make! I will admit they can be a little time-consuming, especially at first when you are trying to get the hang of it. BUT everyone is always amazed that I made them myself!! So, they're really a hit.

I'm also a California girl who moved east, to central PA. The first Christmas that our family was not in LA, we received phone calls, emails and notes from friends and family who missed the chocolate cookies my mother made (and we kids delivered) for the last 27 years. Even when our family was struggling financially, these cookies were still the best gifts we gave. micaelafleming at hotmail dot com

Mmm, I love both giving and receiving edible gifts. This year I am making batches of Nigella's brownies from her Domestic Goddess cook book. They have three sticks of butter and six eggs in them...out of control good!

This year is the first time I've had a lot of gifts to give [my family, plus extended family visiting, plus boyfriend's family] and not much to spend on said gifts. So just about everyone who isn't my mom, brother or boyfriend is getting a ball mason jar full of my favorite hot chocolate recipe. :)

Hello everyone,I usually make apple and orange loaf. It is very easy to make and never let me down. I wrap it and include the recipe on a card. People love it. I also used to give a jar of grilled pepper and zucchini and marinated in olive oil, white wine vinegar, slices of lemon, roasted and lightly bashed caraway seeds, cloves of garlic, salt, pepper. Keep for a day outside the fridge and open the next day, once open keep in the fridge. It lasts for 3 to 4 days. My email: cyrene.simplicity AT yahoo DOT ComThanks

January 2013 update: I know word verification is a big pain, but it's the only way I can stop the ridiculous number of anonymous spam comments I get every day. I don't want to require commenters to be registered Blogger or Open ID users because I know many of you aren't. Thanks so much for your understanding!

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

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